ADDING STRATEGY TO YOUR TENNIS PROGRAM
I've always taught strategy to players early in their development. For me, strategy is an integral part of a competitive player's toolkit along with stroke technique, fitness, and movement. When teaching strategy to beginners, you'll need to tailor your instructions to suit the age and level of the player(s), but the teaching of strategy should be done early and not left to later. I have recently been involved with college tennis in the US and have seen firsthand the lack of any prior introduction players receive on the topic of strategy. Most of the players I have watched competing at college level have had difficulty implementing even elementary strategy in their matches. The problem starts when, early in a players career, coaches believe that if a player has perfected their stroke technique, that will naturally transfer into savvy match-play. That certainly is not the case. The fact is that college coaches are left to deal with this neglected part of a players de